MNA Daily NewsScan: June 8, 2012 - Mayo Moving In, St. Louis RNs say "Yes!" to NNU and more! (Page 106)

What is this? The MNA Daily NewsScan rounds up the day’s biggest nursing, health care and organized labor stories.  As news unfolds in real-time, we update the NewsScan with new links and info, so check back often!

Stories we’re scanning:

Health Care

  • Mayo Moving In: The Star Tribune notes that Rochester, MN-based Mayo Clinic has reached a tentative agreement to purchase and take over Fairview’s Red Wing Health Services location.
  • Young, Uninsured and in Debt: The Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Tracking Survey of Young Adults finds that between November 2010 and November 2011, an estimated 13.7 million young adults ages 19–25 stayed on or joined their parents’ health plans, including 6.6 million who likely would not have been able to do so prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

Labor

  • St. Louis, MO Nurses Vote “Yes!” to joining NNU: By a landslide of 76 percent, registered nurses at Saint Louis University Hospital (SLUH) Thursday night voted to join the National Nurses Organizing Committee-Missouri (NNOC-Missouri), an affiliate of the 175,000-member National Nurses United (NNU), the largest union and professional association of RNs in the U.S.
  • California RNs Win Historic New Pact: National Nurses United announced that registered nurses at Sutter Lakeside Hospital in Lakeport have reached a tentative agreement with hospital officials on a new collective bargaining contract that nurses say is the latest signal to Sutter Health corporate executives that an end to the broader dispute between nurses and the hospital chain can be achieved.

NOTES ON NURSING

Massachusetts Nurses Derail Proposed Law Allowing Unlicensed Personnel to Give Meds  The amendment that would have allowed unlicensed personnel to administer medications was withdrawn from the payment reform bill

LABOR UPDATES

State Unions Reach Tentative Agreement Covering 21,000 Workers   AFSCME and MAPE have reached a tentative deal on a two-year collective bargaining agreement with the State of Minnesota.

AFL-CIO – Olympic Medal Producer Tarnishes Spirit of the Games   Summer Olympic Games medal supplier, Rio Tinto—a union-busting global mining conglomerate with a track record of worker and environmental abuse—should be kept off the podium in London, says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, June 7, 2012: MA RNs defeat unlicensed personnel measure; Olympic gold may be tarnished  »

NOTES ON NURSING

Can Patient Photos Help Reduce Error?  Putting children’s photos in their electronic hospital charts could help reduce one type of medical error, a study published Monday suggests.

HEALTH CARE

DeMoro:  Maybe We Can Get It Right   If President Obama is now confiding to Democratic donors that he may have to “revisit” health care in a second term if the Supreme Court throws out his first attempt, as Bloomberg News reported June 1, maybe this time we can get it right.

Hospitals Add Palliative Care Programs at a Feverish Pace   The field has expanded so rapidly that a majority of American hospitals now have palliative programs, to the delight of patients who say they’ve finally found relief and a sympathetic ear.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan, June 5, 2012: Another chance to get health care right? Labor woes at Belmont  »

NURSES

Nurses, Patients Voice Concerns Over Avoidable Hospital Staffing Crisis    The whole system seems to be “missing something” when it reaps massive profits but can’t keep hospitals properly staffed. But the crisis can’t be explained simply by an overall “shortage” of nurses. The real cause of the staffing squeeze might be the tight fists of hospital CEOs, who don’t want to invest in maintaining an adequate, qualified workforce.

HEALTH CARE

Tax-Exempt Hospitals Eyed Amid State Budget Gaps  Following through on a promise, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced more than two months ago that the state would resume denying tax exemptions to hospitals that operate more like businesses than charities.
… Read more about: MNA Daily NewsScan – May 31, 2012: RNs Say Hospital Staffing Crisis Avoidable with Ratios; Listen to Frontline Staff  »

NURSES

Note:  Senate Media is live streaming this event.  Here’s the link if you have Windows

MNA we will post our own video later today.  Meanwhile, follow us at on Twitter. 

Watch  as MNA RN Jean Ross gives dramatic testimony to Sen. Al Franken about debt collectors in ER – NurseTV.org   Related:  Sen. Franken questions Accretive Health execs today over allegations of aggressive debt collection practices. strib.mn/KW2dB9

Night Shift May Boost Women’s Breast Cancer Risk    “About 10 to 20 percent of women in modern societies have night shift work,” said lead researcher Johnni Hansen.
… Read more about: MNA NewsScan, May 30, 2012: Video of Franken Hearing on Debt Collection; Fake Innovation Wastes HC $$  »